Improved water-wheel



' UNITED. STATESvv PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM HINDS, OF LlTTLE FALLS, NEW YORK.

lMPFtOVED. WATER-WHEEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,850, dated August 1G, 1864; antedated August 8, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Bruns, of Little Falls, county of Herkimer, and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Water-Wheels, (or rather in the eases in which they are rotated 5) and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The novelty that constitutes the improve ment in my invention consists of two or more chutes or sluices embodied with the under side of the case or shell, so constructed and arranged that the water is applied or pitched against the under side of the wheel; and in two vertical funnels or waterpassages located direetlyover the buckets of the wheel, through which the Water, after acting upon the buckets, is discharged, and by means of which all flood or back water is prevented from coming in contact with the wheel to impede its motion.

By this arrangement several important advantages are obtained in operating water` wheels, first, the wheels can be sunk or set one-half the depth of the natural head and fall below the low-water mark, thereby increasing the eii'ective head or fall to the extent that the wheels are depressed; second, sinking or submcrging the wheels eft'ectually guards them against stopping or becoming fast from freezing; third, no flood or back water can come into contact with the wheels to retard their motion 5 fourtl1,watcr pressing vertically against the under side of the wheel will'lift and countcrbalance au amount of the weight of the wheel equal tothe amount of pressure from the water, and will thereby lessen the friction of the wheel upon the step or pivot on which it turns; fifth, water discharged through a tight and wedging chute or water channel and against its gravity will act in a more compressed and solid body and produce greater power upon wheels.

To enable others to makeand use my invention, I will next describe its construction and operation.

Figure 1 is avperspective view of the entire machine. Fig. 2^is a sectional elevation half-way around the case.

cut through. its center. Fig. 3 is a top plan of the under section of the case, and Fig. 4t is atop plan of the wheel.

The same letters indicate the same parts throughout.

The shell or case is in two parts. A. is the under part, and is connected or embodied with the chute orwater-sluice (marked c.) B is the upper part of the case. They connect on the line l l, and are secured by the bolts b b. The sluice is in a circular form and extends clear around the case, and is of a circumference and width to correspond with the space between the rims of the wheel or between the rim r r and the disk or pla-te P, which connect with the buckets a a. The chute or sluice-way is double, or divided by a plate The bottom of the upper sluice, commencing at the port n, is inclined upward, and is graduated to run out or terminate at d, Fig. 3, where it comes to a level with the bottom of the wheel. The bot tom of the under sluice commences at the port m and continues parallel with the bottom of the upper sluice to the point c, where the water outlets against the under side of the wheel, and from thence inclines or ascends to the point j', where the bottom of the sluice is on a level with the under side of the wheel, and is as near to it as may be without coming into contact. By these arrangements equal quantities of water are carried through the ducts c and c, and is divided by the graduated sluices equally upon all the buckets, so as at all timesto exert an equal pressure and power upon the buckets. The upper and lower sections of the casel come as close to the wheel as possible without producing contact and friction therewith. -W is the wheel, the rim of which is shown as if broken away to show the inclination of the bucket c, Figs. 2 and 3. The buckets, however, may be set or made in a perpendicularposition, or may be inclined to any particular angle to suit the convenience of light or heavy wheels and gearing, as the case may be. Reasons for this are that the more the buckets are inclined the more bearing surface is produced for the water to act against to lift and ease the wheel upon the step or pivot c.

S is the shaft. It has a cavity at the bottom to work over the step c. At X are boxes 'or should be) to hold and steady it in avertical position.

F F are funnels or water-spouts for carrying off the Water after it has, acted upon the Wheel, and should be no larger than necessary l'or that purpose. They are made in a circular form to correspond with the circular form 3f the wheel, should be of considerable width, and connect to the case on the line o c, and are secured thereto by bolts orotherwise.

The advantages or improvements I claim for operating Wheels in this manner ensues from the `fact tha-t Water falls to the earthv with an accelerated motion7 giving it a momentum or velocity at the bottom of the fall, Where it acts upon the Wheel sufficient to eject or throw it up halt` the height of the fall7 so that wheels can be sunk or set half Vthe height of the fall under Water, and thereby increase the ett'ective head and power oi' the i y wheels about fl'ty per cent. Further in1- provcment is claimed in shutting oli' lood'or back Water from the Wheels that would impede their action. This7 I believe, completes the description as fully as required.

I claimv l. Thefunnels or passages FF,forconveying the water away from the wheel after its force has been expended in turning it, When the funnels are combined with the Wheel,V subconstructed substantially as and for the purposes setforth in the specioation.

i WM. HINDS. Witnesses WM. A. FnANKLiN, l. D. O. SMITH. 

